Eligible households in these regions will receive a £25 Cold Weather Payment towards the extra cost of heating their homes during the current freeze
The DWP has triggered new Cold Weather Payments for people living in 47 postcode areas.
Eligible households in these regions will receive a £25 payment towards the extra cost of heating their homes during the current cold snap. A total of 160,000 households are expected to receive the payments in the areas announced today. The 19 postcode areas in Northumberland and County Durham with 141,000 households eligible for payments:
- DH1 Durham, County Durham
- DH6 Shadforth, County Durham
- DH7 Esh, County Durham
- DH9 Stanley, County Durham
- DL4 Shildon, County Durham
- DL5 Great Aycliffe, County Durham
- DL14 Bishop Auckland
- DL15 Crook, County Durham
- DL16 Spennymoor, County Durham
- DL17 Ferryhill, County Durham
- NE18 Stamfordham, Northumberland
- NE20 Ponteland, Northumberland
- NE44 Broomhaugh and Riding, Northumberland
- NE45 Corbridge, Northumberland
- NE46 Hexham, Northumberland
- TS21 Sedgefield, County Durham
- TS28 Hutton Henry, County Durham
- TS29 Trimdon, County Durham
The 14 postcode areas in Staffordshire and Derbyshire (11,000 households eligible) are:
- ST8 Biddulph, Staffordshire
- ST11 Forsbrook, Staffordshire
- DE4 Matlock Bath, Derbyshire
- DE45 Bakewell, Derbyshire
- S32 Grindleford, Derbyshire
- S33 Aston, Derbyshire
- SK13 Glossop, Derbyshire
- SK17 King Sterndale, Derbyshire
- SK22 New Mills, Derbyshire
- SK23 Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire
- ST9 Bagnall, Staffordshire
- ST10 Cheadle, Staffordshire
- ST13 Leek, Staffordshire
- DE6 Osmaston, Derbyshire
The four postcode areas in Northumberland (3,000 households eligible) are:
- NE71 Akeld, Northumberland
- TD5 Scottish Borders (parts in England)
- TD12 Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland
- TD15 Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland
The ten postcode areas in mid Wales (5,000 households eligible) are:
- LL20 Llangollen, Denbighshire
- LL21 Corwen, Denbighshire
- LL23 Bala, Gwynedd
- SY10 Oswestry Rural, Shropshire
- SY15 Montgomery, Powys
- SY16 Llanllwchaiarn, Powys
- SY17 Caersws, Powys
- SY19 Llanbrynmair, Powys
- SY21 Castle Caereinion, Powys
- SY22 Llansantffraid, Powys
The update comes after payments were triggered for 51 postcode areas in Yorkshire yesterday. More than 250,000 households will now receive Cold Weather Payments this winter so far. You can check payments for your postcode area on our interactive map here:
Previously two separate payments totalling £50 were made to around 10,000 households in 18 postcode areas in Cumbria and Northumberland. A further eight postcode areas in Northern Ireland have also received a single £25 Cold Weather Payment under a similar separate scheme which is operated by the Northern Ireland Executive, and not the DWP. The payments there were triggered on the January 4 and covered these postcode areas:
- BT24 Ballynahinch
- BT25 Dromore
- BT26 Hillsborough
- BT30 Downpatrick
- BT31 Castlewellan
- BT32 Banbridge
- BT33 Newcastle, Co Down
- BT34 Newry, South Down
Cold Weather Payments are made to people in England and Wales who receive a range of benefits. A separate scheme is operated in Northern Ireland along similar lines but in Scotland the support for heating bills is paid every winter and not linked to specific spells of cold weather.
There are an estimated 3.9 million people eligible for Cold Weather Payments under the DWP scheme and of these 1.2 million are in receipt of Pensions Credit. Last year there were 364,000 payments made across England and Wales at a total cost of £9.1 million. In some areas of Cumbria, the Cold Weather Payments were triggered three times during separate spells of freezing weather last winter, meaning eligible recipients were paid £75 in total.
The DWP says those claiming the following benefits may be eligible for the Cold Weather Payment; Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit, Support for Mortgage Interest.
Not all those receiving these benefits will automatically receive a Cold Weather Payment. There are a number of factors which will determine whether a payment will be made and full details of those eligible are on GOV.UK.
